Plate Pack

ABSTRACT

A plate pack includes a disposable dish and a first utensil detachably connected to the disposable dish. The plate pack includes a second utensil detachedly connected to the disposable dish, a third utensil detachedly connected to the disposable dish and a support member to detachedly connect to the disposable dish. The first utensil, the second utensil, the third utensil and the support member are connected to a periphery of the disposable dish. The plate pack is stackable with another plate pack.

PRIORITY

The present invention claims priority under 35 USC section 119 based onthe provisional application filed on Nov. 15, 2006 with a Ser. No.60/865,905.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a disposable food serving dish and utensils,and more particularly, to a plate pack including a dispensable servingdish and utensils which may be used by fast food restaurants and otherusers when washable dishes are not available.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Fast food restaurants may serve pieces of fried fish, chicken, onionrings, French fries, and the like on a disposable dish with disposableutensils. The disposable food serving dish and utensils may be used atpicnics or parties when washable dishes are not available, or it isinconvenient to use washable dishes. Typically, serving dishes andutensils are packaged separately, requiring the user to buy sufficientquantities of the dishes and the utensils. Usually, the number of dishesand the number of utensils are unequal which may result in the need tobuy additional dishes or utensils. This is wasteful and lead to thesituation where there are too many disposable dishes or too manyutensils.

Furthermore, many consumers use these disposable dishes and utensils ona regular basis. It is undesirable as discussed above to have aninsufficient number of these disposable dishes or utensils at any giventime.

SUMMARY

The plate pack provides consumers and merchants with a better way ofassuring that for every disposable plate there is a disposable utensil.The plate pack includes a disposable plate with disposable utensilswhich are positioned along the edge of the disposable plate so that thedisposable utensils are easily and quickly removed for use with thedisposable plate. The disposable plate and the utensils are separated bya weakened area which may include perforated edges so that thedisposable utensils can be quickly and easily removed from thedisposable plate.

The present invention prevents the problem of having insufficient numberof disposable utensils or an insufficient number of disposable plates.

The users of the present invention no longer have to make separatepurchases for the disposable plates and the disposable utensils.

The users of the present invention simply have to bend and break off toseparate the disposable plates and the disposable utensils. Thedisposable utensils may be a spoon, a fork, a knife or any other type ofutensil that could be used with a disposable plate.

The plate pack of the present invention may be formed from plastic orother suitable material and may be formed in various colors. The platepack of the present invention may be formed so that the individualdisposable plates and disposable utensils are stackable with respect toeach other so that the plate packs can be compactly packaged and stored.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the plate pack of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a partial view of the plate pack of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a stack of the plate packs of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a separated plate pack of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a second embodiment of the plate pack of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of an inverted plate pack of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 illustrates another side view of the inverted plate pack of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates another side view of the inverted plate pack of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a bottom view of the plate pack of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a top view of the plate pack with the utensilseparated from the plate;

FIG. 11 illustrates a top view of the plate pack with utensils andsupport members separated from the plate;

FIG. 12 illustrates a perspective view of a stack of plate packs;

FIG. 13 illustrates a side view of the stack of plate packs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates the plate pack 100 of the present invention. Theplate pack 100 includes a disposable dish 110 having a centraldepression 112. The disposable dish 110 is generally centrally locatedwithin the plate pack 100 and may be formed from plastic, paper,cardboard or other rigid or semi rigid material. The disposable dish 110is shown as being circular in shape; however, other shapes such asrectangular, triangular, or other suitable shapes are within the scopeof the invention. Positioned along the periphery of the disposable dishis a weakened area 102 which allows the removal of the utensils 104,106,108 and support member 114 which are used to hold the utensils beforethey are to be used. As a consequence, the weakened area 102 allows thefirst second and third utensil 104, 106, 108 and the support member 114to be detachably connected to the disposable dish 110. Removal of thefirst, second and third utensil 104, 106, 108 and the support member 114allows for the disposable dish 110 to be substantially circular toprovide an attractive dish for use by the user. As shown in FIG. 1, afirst disposable utensil 104 is shown as a disposable fork, and a seconddisposable utensil 106 is shown as a knife. A third disposable utensil108 is shown as a spoon. The first disposable utensil 104 has beenpartially removed from the support member 104 and the periphery of thedisposable dish 110. The second and third disposable utensils 106, 108remain attached to the disposable dish 110 by the weakened area 102.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of the plate pack 100 in accordance withthe teachings of the present invention. The support member 114 isconnected to the second disposable utensil 106 by the weakened area 102and is connected to the disposable plate 110 by the weakened area 112.In a similar fashion, the third disposable utensil 108 is connected tothe weakened area.

FIG. 3 illustrates a stack of the plate packs 100 in accordance with theteachings of the present invention. The plate pack 100 is shown with thefirst utensil 104, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 108.

FIG. 4 illustrates a separated plate pack 100 including the disposabledish 110, the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106 and the thirdutensil 108.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the plate pack 500 inaccordance with the teachings of the present invention. FIG. 5illustrates that the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106 and thethird utensil 108 are connected to the support member 114 by a narrowmember 502 or tab. The narrow member 502 is connected to the firstutensil 104, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 108 by aweakened area 102 so that the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106and the third utensil 104 can be easily removed from the narrow member502 and the support material 114. The support material 114 is connectedto the disposable dish 110 by a weakened area 102 so that the supportmaterial 114 can be separated easily from the disposable dish 110.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of the inverted plate pack 500 with thefirst utensil 104 being shown.

FIG. 7 illustrates another side view of the inverted plate pack 500showing the third utensil 108.

FIG. 8 illustrates another side view of the inverted plate pack 500showing the first utensil 104 and the third utensil 108 at approximatelyopposing sides of the plate pack 500.

FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of the plate pack 500 of thepresent invention. The third utensil 108 has been rotated to remove thethird utensil 108 at the weakened area 102.

FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective view of the plate pack 500 of thepresent invention. FIG. 10 illustrates that the first utensil 104, thesecond utensil 106 in the third utensil 108 have been removed from thesupport member 114 at the narrow member 502.

FIG. 11 illustrates a perspective view of the plate pack of 500 of thepresent invention. FIG. 11 illustrates that the first utensil 104, thesecond utensil 106 and the third utensil 108 have been removed from theplate pack 500. Furthermore, FIG. 11 illustrates that each of thesupport members 114 associated with the first utensil 104, the secondutensil 106 and the third utensil 108 has been separated from thedisposable dish 110. As a consequence, the user is now able to discardthe support member 114 and use the first second and third utensil 104,106, 108 and the disposable dish 110.

FIG. 12 illustrates a stack of the plate pack 500 which includes thefirst utensil 106, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 108 andincludes the support member 114 which includes the narrow member 502.

FIG. 13 illustrates a side view of the stack of the stacked plate 500.The plate pack 500 may come in different plate styles, sizes, shapes andwith and without divisions or sections for the user's choices of sideorders of food. The plate pack can fit on its own compartment of choice.The plate pack can also come with an oriental style with sections anddivisions in the plate that will facilitate the dish served. Theoriental style of plate pack can come with utensils including a fork,knife and spoon or may come with chopsticks on the side with a scoop tobe used as a spoon for the soup.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by wayof example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It shouldbe understood, however, that the description herein of specificembodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particularforms disclosed.

1) A plate pack, comprising: a disposable dish; a first utensildetachably connected to the disposable dish. 2) A plate pack as in claim1, wherein said plate pack includes a second utensil detachedlyconnected to the disposable dish. 3) A plate pack as in claim 2, whereinsaid plate pack includes a third utensil detachedly connected to thedisposable dish. 4) A plate pack as in claim 3, wherein said plate packincludes a support member to detachedly connected to the disposabledish. 5) A plate pack as in claim 1, wherein said first utensil isconnected to a periphery of the disposable dish. 6) A plate pack as inclaim 2, wherein the second utensil is connected to a periphery of thedisposable dish. 7) A plate pack as in claim 3, wherein the thirdutensil is connected to a periphery of the disposable dish. 8) A platepack as in claim 1, wherein the plate pack is stackable with anotherplate pack. 9) A plate pack as in claim 4, wherein the support memberincludes a narrow member to connect to the first utensil. 10) A platepack as in claim 4, wherein the support member includes a narrow memberto connect to the second utensil. 11) A plate pack as in claim 4,wherein the support member includes a narrow member to connect to thethird utensil.